The Circle of Life
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Albert Camus was an atheistic french philosopher, author and journalist. He made famous the philosophical ideology known as absurdism. In his book the myth of Sisyphus He describes the normal routine of many people… “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday according to the same rhythm.” He describes … We are born, then the merry-go-round of life, then we die. He declares that the life is absolutely absurd.
Round and round we go where we will stop nobody knows. Its the same old, same old. We are just running around in circles. Over and over again. I feel just like a hamster on the wheel. I just can’t ever get ahead. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. The more things change the more they stay the same. We would say about life, what Keith Sweat sang about his girlfriend. Merry go round and round. Does it seem like in our world today that we just cannot seem to get ahead. Even as Christians we seem to experience the same day to day drudgery that we finish today and know that we will do again tomorrow. We struggle because we tend to walk in both worlds. Focus more on the horizontal rather then the vertical. A good friend of mine worked for the post office and he said that the holidays are hard because the mail just keeps coming and you just cannot get ahead. And the next day comes and it is the same thing. Is this kinda like how life feels to many of us today?
Even as Christians we find ourselves trusting the things of the world instead of trusting in Christ. Once again we find that the world does not give us what it promised. The world does not fulfill. Life under the sun without Christ is gonna feel like walking on a treadmill. Without Christ… Round and round it goes. We can walk for miles and still be in the same place we started.
Ecclesiastes 1:
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Good Question
The Circle of Life
Nothing New
All Things New
The first thing we will explore today is the good key rhetorical question that is asked by Qoheleth. Then we will look at a vivid illustration of how all that is under the sun is subject to the circle of life. Third we will see how all things repeats itself and that is why there is nothing new under the sun. Finally, we will see how our Lord Jesus came into this world to make all things new.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to be focused and distracted by what the world promises to offer, but it is the truth of scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes and ears to behold the love and work of Christ does indeed make all things new even under the sun.
I. Good Question
- This rhetorical question asked by the preacher serves as a clue to understanding the introductory conclusion of Ecclesiastes.
A. The Preacher begins with a rhetorical question - a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer. The author desires to draw us into this exploration. Think about it.
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
- Dr. Bartholomew - Thus, although Qohelet will regularly conclude that he cannot find any benefit in labor, the openness to the rhetorical question of is important to maintain - this openness invites the reader to participate in Qoheleth’s struggle about the meaning of life.
B. What do we get or what do we gain. Yitron - is a commercial term that is ordinarily used in business. It refers to something that is left after all expenses have been paid. It is understood as making a profit. Gain is the return for the investment of hard work.
C. So what is essentially happening here is that Solomon is asking if this is all worth it. Is that not what we ask about a job? An investment? Many of us have the idea that we will get more if we just work a little, but Qoheleth doubts it. What will we have to show for all our hard work when life is done?
D. The Question is rhetorical… we know what the answer is. What do we gain or profit for all of our hard work under the sun? Nothing. No matter how hard we work under the sun we will not really gain anything. Sometimes we feel like we lost more than we gained.
- A rich man was determined to give his mother a birthday present that would outshine all others. He read of a bird that had a vocabulary of 4000 words, could speak in numerous languages and sing 3 operatic arias. He immediately bought the bird for $50,000 and had it delivered to his mother. The next day he phoned to see if she had received the bird. "What did you think of the bird?" he asked. She replied, "It was delicious."
E. We just can’t get ahead with life done under the sun. What do we gain… nothing, but this is all that is done under the sun. Under the sun, is understood as under heaven. Which means this world.
II. The Circle of Life
- Why do we demand a profit for our work, when all of creation does not?
A. We hear all the time of our advancements and progress...economic development, technological advances, evolutionary improvements—but it is all an illusion. With all the new technology, if we really think about it, we really have not progressed. And you know what? This is the way it is for all creation.
economic development, technological advances, evolutionary improvements—but it is all a myth.
B. It is customary for us to think of the next generation of people in the sense of progress. We believe that children are our future… The next generation will be able to accomplish and go beyond anything that we could have ever dreamed and change the world. It could seem like an endless processional of people coming and going … ah but the earth remains the same. Nothing changes in the world.
lists a series of things that never seem to go anywhere or gain anything.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 25). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
C. Jerome said, “What is more vain than this vanity: that the earth, which was made for humans, stays—but humans themselves, the lords of the earth, suddenly dissolve into the dust?”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 25). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. The Sun rises and sets. Even the daily journey of the sun seems pointless. Around and around it goes, without ever actually ending up anywhere.
Usually we turn to nature to find encouragement for the soul, but when the Preacher looks at the sun, he simply sees the monotony
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Usually we turn to nature to find encouragement for the soul, but when the Preacher looks at the sun, he simply sees the monotony
Even the daily journey of the sun seems pointless. Around and around it goes, without ever actually ending up anywhere.
E. And what of the wind? The wind shows us the same thing, for it fails to accomplish anything more than the sun. Yet the wind also follows its customary currents. It blows past, and then it comes back again. Around and around it goes, following its circular course but never reaching a destination. For all its constant movement, there is never any progress.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Yet the wind also follows its customary currents. It blows past, and then it comes back again. Around and around it goes, following its circular course but never reaching a destination. For all its constant movement, there is never any progress.
F. Water is not much better. When he talks about water flowing and flowing again, he is not describing the water cycle, in which water evaporates into the clouds and eventually returns to water the earth in the form of rain. Rather, Qoheleth is talking about the way that all rivers and streams flow forever to the sea. There is an especially vivid example of this in Israel, where Qoheleth lived. The Dead Sea is landlocked; it has no outlet to another body of water. Yet for all the centuries that the Jordan River has been flowing down into the Dead Sea, the sea is not yet full, and thus the water continues to flow.
The wind shows us the same thing, for it fails to accomplish anything more than the sun.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 27). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
When he talks about water flowing and flowing again, he is not describing the water cycle, in which water evaporates into the clouds and eventually returns to water the earth in the form of rain. Rather, Quoheleth is talking about the way that all rivers and streams flow forever to the sea. There is an especially vivid example of this in Israel, where Qoheleth lived. The Dead Sea is landlocked; it has no outlet to another body of water. Yet for all the centuries that the Jordan River has been flowing down into the Dead Sea, the sea is not yet full, and thus the water continues to flow.
G. Life is the same way. Everything seems to be in a rut. Where is the progress? What is the profit? You spend your whole life working for one company after another, but what do you gain for all your toil? These days it is hard to get a retirement dinner anymore, let alone a gold-plated watch. Or what do you have to show for all the work you do around the house? There are always more meals to prepare, more floors to scrub, and more clothes to wash.
H. Dr. Iain Provan - Why do you imagine that a surplus for the puny individual is a realistic aim, when creation itself, in all its awesome mystery and complexity beyond moral grasping, is not ordered to produce a surplus though its toil but is content, as it were, to go on with its tasks, endlessly and cyclically, in consistency with its nature?
I. The preacher continues to argue his point.
III. Nothing New
Life is the same way. Everything seems to be in a rut. Where is the progress? What is the profit? You spend your whole life working for one company after another, but what do you gain for all your toil? These days it is hard to get a retirement dinner anymore, let alone a gold-plated watch. Or what do you have to show for all the work you do around the house? There are always more meals to prepare, more floors to scrub, and more clothes to wash.
- If the sun, the wind and the rivers have nothing to show for their endless labor, then what hope do we have of ever gain anything in life?
If the sun and the wind and the mighty rivers have nothing to show for their constant labor, then what hope do we have of ever accomplishing anything in life?
If the sun and the wind and the mighty rivers have nothing to show for their constant labor, then what hope do we have of ever accomplishing anything in life?
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 27–28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 27). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
A. There is no satisfaction … set up for the next couple of weeks. Our eyes are not satisfied, our ears are never satisfied either. We become weary or even bored with what we see and hear all the time. We do not like the same old same old. Been there done that. We are seeing and hearing more amazing things last year than were saw and heard ten years before. And we are bored of it now. Netflix, Youtube TV, ipod, iphones, andriods. Even with all this our eyes and ears still want more. We can never get enough. There is always one more show to watch, one more game to play, one more song to which to listen, one more text, one more tweet, one more facebook post, one more instagram . And then it starts again tomorrow unsatisfied.
B. Solomon can prove this with simple history. If there is one thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history. History is always repeating itself. Nations rise and fall, but human nature remains the same. There are times of war and times of peace, but even in peacetime we know that war will come again. Times of plenty and want, but during the times of plenty we know there will be times of want. In church history, we see the same kinds of developments and heresies coming and going. Even on my best days when I think I discovered something new theologically, its already be done before.
We can never get enough. There is always one more show to watch, one more game to play, one more song to which to listen. So
C. But someone might suggest that there is something new, Here’s something new!!, but it is not. I have a great idea for pants. Flared bottoms.
Nations rise and fall, but human nature remains the same. There are times of war and times of peace, but even in peacetime we know that war will come again.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. And even if we knew that before, we just don’t seem to remember the things of the past. We suffer from historical amnesia. I wonder if we would be doing the things we are doing today if we remember what the generations before us sacrificed. But the next generation wont remember what we are doing today. What we have accumulated will be lost; what we have accomplished will be forgotten. Our descendants will not remember us any better than we remember our ancestors. This is why we cannot progress in life. This is why there is nothing new. The more things change the more things stay the same
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
What we have accumulated will be lost; what we have accomplished will be forgotten. Our descendants will not remember us any better than we remember our ancestors. Eventually
IV. All Things New
- Christ has come to give us life and life more abundant.
A. Why? Dr. Provan gives us a huge clue. “The universe is not designed to enable gain to happen, and those who attempt to fly in the face of reality can only ever know grief and frustration in the end.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 30). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
B. The world is content in its circle. The creation is content with its lack of gain. Because gain is not the purpose of creation… us included. Our purpose is worship. We can get so caught up in trying to get ahead that we forget to do what it is we were created for. Glorifying Christ.
C. Sin confuses us. Nothing else in the created world is so caught up with gain upon gain like us humans. The sun is content, the winds are content, the rivers are content. But we continue to keep trying to live our lives away from God, away from the real reason why we are here.
D. When we sinned we fell into rebellion. Understanding what is meant by the knowledge of good and evil… is deciding good and evil for ourselves. Rebellion. Independence. Trying to gain, trying to store up manna, trying to surplus life, but we were never to live a life without trust in God.
E. Qoheleth is giving us a clue here in Ecclesiastes. We are to live life fully trusting the Lord in all things. Instead many of us continue to live life in unbelief. Life without hope. Chasing the vanity of vanities. Looking and hearing all that will never satisfy. Nothing new at all.
F. But this is the beauty of our Lord Jesus today. He is the only one who could truly do what He said...
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”
G. He is truly coming to make a new heaven and a new earth, but right now he desires to give us all new hearts...
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
H. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. Life without Christ is not only one of meaninglessness, but one of eternal condemnation. Our souls are in jeopardy today. And Christ said it himself that a single soul is not worth everything in this world.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
I. We worry about what we will gain from our work, but Christ is telling us that even if you have it all, it is not worth your soul. Our Lord Jesus knew this. Our heavenly Father knew this.
J. That is why today it is my privilege to tell you the good news. Jesus died for our sins according… The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus ...
K. Jesus not only came to give us life, but he came to bring us life more abundant. Yes newness of life. More than we could ever ask or imagine. Christ the Lord is alive and well sitting at the right hand throne of the Father. There is forgiveness of sins today. There is mercy upon mercy today.
L. The bible promises… all who call upon the name of the Lord... If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...
M. Not even the entire world is enough to compensate for the loss of one eternal soul. Not one of you.
N. What do we gain for all the circle of life things we do under the sun? If we are looking to make a profit, we should not live for what this world seems to offer, but only for the everlasting gain that comes with trusting Jesus for the free gift of eternal life and eternal life more abundant.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 33). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.